Students at ROWVA Junior High are just like other typical junior high students. The classic question rings throughout  the halls, well actually one hall. It is a small district. “Is this going to be on the test?” “Yes, this will be on the test.” Then the test scores come back and although the students know exactly what will be on the test - they don’t perform to expectations. Just like Jim from store 334 in a large grocery store chain, the teachers do the “head slap” (McChesney, Covey, & Huling, 2012).

The teachers need to get the students involved in authentic, personalized learning so that they will take ownership in their learning. The tricky part is determining how to make this happen and how we can do things differently than we already do. In order to accomplish a goal that you have not previously accomplished, you must do things that you have never done before. (2012).

5 Stages of Change
Stage 1 Getting Clear  
It is important that I communicate to others my plan to usher project based learning in the junior high level classes.  I want other teachers to have the opportunity to openly have discussions about the importance of allowing students to have a more active role in their learning and being provided with choices through project based learning.  I want to use what is left of this school year to begin collecting student input and potential problems with project based learning in the junior high classrooms. I want to communicate clearly that project based lessons are tools to use to improve instruction and provide students opportunities that would not otherwise be possible.  One of the biggest obstacles I will face is changing the attitude- that the only way to test student knowledge is a subject area is a paper and pencil test.

Stage 2: Launch
I want to meet with the junior high staff in the summer of 2018 so that we have a plan on the books to begin in August when we start school. I would love to start earlier, but the last few months of the year seems to have more wind in the whirlwind than a fresh start. To make a full energy launch, we need to have full focus. At the first meeting I will share the student input I have collected and address struggles in preparation. I will also assure the staff that I will be there to help as a “just in time teacher” for students and staff. As a starting point I have created a WIG that we can improve upon when we come together as a group.
My WIG goal is to use project based learning at least 35% of the lessons, allowing options for students to choose how to visibly show what they understand and how they understand  information at their own pace, with peer collaboration, experimental and problem-based learning by December 2018.

Stage 3: Adoption
Once expectations have been established to implement project based learning in the junior high, I will meet with each teacher to develop how to include projects in lesson planning. We will discuss the programs and technology, we have available and find ways to incorporate our current availability.   The weekly WIG meetings will assist in holding the entire staff accountable while keeping the visual scoreboard current. When implementation becomes easier and teachers begin to see student growth, I hope that the hard work for change is itself a great reward.   Eventually, with successful progress, the ultimate goal is to extend the plan, school-wide, this is where the team leaders will be an asset assisting with other departments to communicate struggles and successes.

Stage 4: Optimization
In this stage, teachers will have been able to shift their mindset in realizing that these results have made a difference in students' lives (2012). Teachers will begin to understand the changes, and feeling comfortable with the implementation.  It is during this stage that  motivational strategies will be used in weekly meetings to encourage and recognize creative solutions, recognize follow through, and motivate the team to become models for members who may still be resistant.

Stage 5: Habits
There is not an actual answer of the number of days that it takes something to become a habit, but eventually it begins to feel so automatic that you can’t remember life without the changes. During this stage, I hope the changes become seamless and that as one common goal becomes a habit a new goal takes its place. The movement towards project based learning becomes a stepping stone.  One stone path to extend this type of learning into the rest of the district and another stone path that the team that just formed a habit with the 4DX movement chooses a new WIG to accomplish.

The Four Disciplines of Execution

Discipline 1: Focus on the WIG (Wildly Important Goal)
When you work on too many goals it is the same as working on none of them, because the energy put into each one is so little, that any change is insignificant (McChesney, Covey, & Huling, 2012) This statement has summed up the the last two courses for me. I needed to work though all of the things that I have learned and choose one thing to change first. I kept the list of the other goals, but the one that will help my students most is ushering in project based learning. My WIG goal is to use project based learning at least 35% of the lessons, allowing options for students to choose how to visibly show what they understand and how they understand  information at their own pace, with peer collaboration, experimental and problem-based learning by December 2018.  This will translate to at least one lesson per unit. This percentage may appear low, but I will have to work the staff members to revamp their lessons and grading criteria to achieve this goal.
The junior high staff and I  will work together to tweak this WIG so that each team member a take ownership of this goal. As we finalize the WIG we will create a lag measurement. Lag measurements are what we want , they tell you where the finish is. The Lag measure for this WIG is that all junior high teachers will change their lesson plans and grading criteria to include a project for each unit of study in the fall of 2018. This goal allows flexibility to create an applicable changes and develop a plan  for anytime in the unit. In order to hold the staff  accountable for this, there will need to be lead measures put in place.

Discipline 2: Act on Lead Measures (Launch and Adoption)
We have to have leverage to achieve our WIG. The lever that will compel us or help us move the rock. That leverage is to help students take ownership of their own learning  using their own pace, with peer collaboration, experimental and problem-based learning It is clear that just telling them what will be on the test isn’t working well. The lead measures are what needs to take place to accomplish the lag goal. The first lead measure is for weekly WIG meetings. This time will be used to compare ideas for project based learning strategies. If the  students learn better with collaboration so do the teachers. Teachers that are not able to attend the WIG meeting will need to seek out information discussed in the group. The second lead measure will be pairing up teachers that work well together and can complement each others  strengths and weaknesses. These pairs can share strategies and build confidence. This may help a resistor teacher or a teacher that may just be caught up in the whirlwind have another level of accountability. One of the team members will check in on an online form to account for weekly meetings.

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Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard (Engagement)
Even when goals and controls are clear, the game means nothing if there is no score. For engagement the scoreboard must be large and visible and it needs to be easy to see who is winning and losing.
I will make the scoreboard in a chart form. One column will have the teachers name and the other column will have the weeks of school.  The chart will be filled out at each WIG meeting to update the scoreboard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability (Habits)
To ensure we are working toward our Wildly Important Goal we must reach our weekly goals first . The junior high staff  have to hold themselves accountable for adding projects each learning unit.  Having a 15- 20 minute meeting once a week where I meet with the staff and  we talk about is things relevant to the WIG, not the whirlwind, will help keep everyone on track. Meeting once a week to talk about the goals will be easy to do with the junior high because the teachers all eat at the same time and in a room large enough for all. As the process grows, meeting with the other schools will be more difficult. The meetings will enforce accountability. If we can see and talk about the progress or lack of progress with others face to face it will make everyone want to succeed. If the members of the group can make a point to bring a new idea to share each week the measures and goal will stay viable. It will also be a good time to update the scoreboard to see who has met their goals, and set new goals for the next week.

The Influencer vs. 4DX
As I took the time to put my plan for change together, I have used both the Influencer model and the 4DX model. I think that to make changes both plans need to be applied together. 4DX makes goals and plans to stick to goals. I am the kind of person that needs a goal. I write to-do lists on paper and in my phone - stay on task. The Influencer model is really more behaviors and emotions. Making change really takes a great deal of planning and setting goals - even if I write them down, does not mean they get done. The reasons why, how, and who are going to do the change need to be looked at. I like the matrix of the Influencer plan. I felt like I had an unfair advantage if I thought about and wrote out all the “if” factors before I confronted the person or persons that I needed to make a change. With these strategies in place for both models, I am confident that implementing project based learning  for the students personal accountability will be challenging but achievable.

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